Quiz: How Many Michigan Presidents Have We Had?

How many?  One?  None?   Six?

The answer is 14.

The most recent is Mark Schlissel, who took office in 2014.    That’s right, since it was founded in 1852, the University of Michigan has had 14 presidents—one women and 13 men.

Ok, we know, it’s President’s Day and we’re supposed to be talking about U.S. Presidents.   Well, when I looked up “Michigan Presidents”, that’s what it found.   Darn Google.  Upon further inspection, I found another surprise.  No U.S. Presidents were born in Michigan.  I thought there was one.  Gerald Ford spent most of his life here, but was born in Nebraska.  I'd forgotten that.    I also found a few other tidbits:

• Gerald Ford is the only president to never be elected by the voting public to president or vice president (first Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned, followed shortly thereafter by Richard Nixon).
• The first six U.S. Presidents were all from either Virginia or Massachusetts.  Only when the maverick Andrew Jackson was elected did we break that trend.
• We’re not sure what state Andrew Jackson is from.  He was born on the line between North and South Carolina, and both states lay claim to him.  We’ll give him to South Carolina today.
• All U.S. Presidents were born in a total of 21 different states, or put another way, 29 states have not produced a U.S. President.
• Eight were from Virginia. There have been seven from Ohio, five from New York, four from Massachusetts and two each from North Carolina, Texas and Vermont.
• Only one President was from the state of California, Richard Nixon.
• All 50 states have important mattress sales today, and many offer disposal of your old mattress.